Stay With Me
by Melting Angels
Summary: When she had told him, red-faced and panting, that she would one day make him beg, he had laughed. Laughed for so long he nearly lost his breath. Yet now, in the aftermath of the battle, he realized how wrong he had been.


**A/N:** This is based on a little idea posted by **clockwork-mockingbird**. Warning for description of wounds.

The Inquisitor I am using in this fic is my mage, a Qunari named Helrah.

I may post an alternate ending, or continue this, if interest is shown.

* * *

 _In the silver moonlight, they leaned back on the bed, her head resting on his shoulder. Both still slightly red-faced, her white hair tangled, they smiled at each other as they regained their breath._

 _"Damn." He had laughed. "That was good."_

 _"I...we both needed that." She had looked up at him, with love in her ever-beautiful green eyes._

 _"After almost getting our asses kicked by that fear demon? Definitely needed to let off some steam."_

 _She'd laughed at that. He always thought her laugh was beautiful, although she had protested it wasn't so._

 _"You know..." She'd leaned in closer. "One of these days, it'll be the other way round. You'll be the one begging."_

 _Oh, how he had laughed. He laughed so loud there was no doubt that Josephine had heard from her study._

 _"I'd like to see you try, Kadan."_

* * *

The battle had dragged on, for what seemed like an eternity. Even as they fought, they could hear the screams of the soldiers below, desperately fighting, scrambling to keep the demons away from the Inquisitor, to give them more time to bring Corypheus down. Battling alongside her, Bull could see the fear in her eyes. Fear that they may fail. Fear that the future she'd told him of may come to pass. Seeing her pale face, smeared in glistening demon blood, he had wanted to reach out to her, to comfort her, but the enemy in front of them prevented him from doing so.

At first, the battle had been going their way. The Guardian of Mythal fought viciously against the magister's Arch-Demon, in the background of the fight, a sight to behold, and at times, dangerously distracting.

Yet...it had gone...terribly wrong.

Right before their eyes, Corypheus reopened the breach. The sound that pierced their eardrums, as the sky was torn open once more, was damn near deafening. Worse than that sound, however, was her cry of pain. He could still feel the chill that ran down his spine, when he saw her fall to her knees, cradling her hand which bore the key to Thedas' salvation.

Kadan. He had called for her, but demons had begun to fall from the breach, and soon he, as well as the rest of the group, were separated from the Inquisitor, forced back, despite how much they fought, how they lashed out with bruised and battered bodies.

The minutes ticked by, painfully slow, but he had never lost faith in her. She had never let him down, nor had she ever been beaten in battle. So, when he saw her blast Corypheus through a wall, he had been sure that she would come out of the fight.

He had often been forced to look away, but as often as he could, without causing a risk to himself, he had looked up at the large platform on which she and Corypheus fought.

When she had shattered the orb the dark spawn had once wielded, he cheered along with the others, a loud call of encouragement to be heard from miles around.

When the bolt of light had streaked up to the sky, from her hand, the entire battle had frozen. Demons and soldiers alike, paused to watch in shock and horror as the breach grew smaller, the sky darkening as the green light of the fade became dim.

As the breach had closed, and a long burst of light had streaked across the heavens, the soldiers had all cheered, chanting the Inquisitor's name as the demons around them fell, free of any lingering influence that Corypheus had held over them.

Bull had begun walking up to her at that very moment...

Wanting to embrace her...

Kiss her...

But he had watched in horror, as Corypheus, in a last ditch attempt to regain some of his dwindling dignity, lashed out at his Kadan. With a weathered blade crafted of red lyrium, he had stabbed clean through her chest, blood spilling as he laughed, LAUGHED, at her look of shock, her look of fear.

He had roared then, charging forward, axe ready to sever the pitiful creature's head clean off his shoulders, but she...had beaten him to it.

With teeth gritted together in a grimace, she had ripped the blade from her body, and, in the same movement, sliced the darkspawn's head from his scarred shoulders. The quick movement, without hesitation, was truly a testament to her strength, and all who had seen the fight had been in awe.

Even as her blood spilled onto the floor, she held out her hand, and drew upon the power of the mark. All observers had frozen in place, watching in morbid fascination as the remains of Corypheus were sucked into the rift, before the tear disappeared, as quickly as she had summoned it.

Her legs had given out after. He had dropped his axe, and rushed towards her, practically sprinting, and near skidding across the floor before he came to kneel beside her.

As gently as one would hold a newborn child, he cradled her in his arms. Her eyes were closed, but he saw the creases on her forehead, how the pain was practically etched into her expression.

"Kadan." Bull had spoken gently.

Hearing him, her eyes opened, and he felt his heart skip a beat when he saw they were a darkened red, glowing slightly with the venomous lyrium infused in the wound.

"You made it." Her voice was so quiet, and just those few words had made blood drip down her lips.

"Of course I did. Couldn't let you have all the fun." He had tried to make her laugh, but all he had gotten was a weak smile in return.

He could hear Sera crying in the background, and Vivienne, of all people, trying to console her, but he forced his focus back on his Inquisitor.

"Stay with me." He had pleaded.

"Doing...my best." She had begun coughing up blood after that, the red liquid now covering most of her body, even as he pressed a hand to the front of her wound, in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding, grimacing when he saw crystals of red lyrium forming some kind of crust around the edges of the gruesome wound. Edges of her broken ribs could be seen, glistening under the pale moonlight.

In the background, he heard Cassandra shouting to the soldiers to bring as many surviving mages as they could find, her usually calm, stoic voice shaking.

"The seeker's got mages coming. Hold on a bit longer, Kadan."

She had gone to reply, but had begun to choke, eyes forced closed as the coughs wracked her body. His heart ached, but he forced himself to remain calm. Turning her slightly onto her side, he heard someone in the background release a sob, when blood leaked from her mouth, tiny shards of red lyrium shining in the metallic liquid.

"Stay with me."

As the seconds ticked by, her breathing grew ever slower, and Cassandra grew frantic, yelling for any mages to help, for the soldiers to find any who yet lived.

"Never thought I'd be doing this." He'd let out a half hearted laugh. "I'm begging you, stay with me."

"I'm...doing my...best." Her voice grew weaker with each small word.

Footsteps could be heard in the distance, he could hear Cassandra calling out, but turned back to his Inquisitor, forcing himself to keep a smile on his face, even as he looked down at her broken body.

Slowly, she had begun to still, her right hand, holding his own hand, losing its tension. Even though he could hear the mages approaching, he feared it may be too late. He had seen such wounds before. But none inflicted with a blade of red lyrium.

He held her tighter, ignoring the pain in his own body, for it was nothing next to the agony she was in.

"Stay with me."

He couldn't find the words to say much else. His mind was focused on a single thing- keeping his Kadan awake for as long as he could.

"Stay-"

He felt his voice crack, when he looked down, and saw her chest no longer rising, or falling steadily. She was as still as a statue, face frozen in a vacant expression, red eyes glazing over, as her precious lifeblood pooled beneath them.

"No..." He pulled her closer. "Stay..."

He knew she did not hear him, knew she was gone, but something in him forced himself to keep speaking, even as tears spilled forth from his eye.

"Stay with me."

When she still did not stir, he began to shake, anger overtaking all other emotions. With his voice raw from the shouting, he let loose a cry to the heavens...

Although no one up there would hear.


End file.
